| The story focuses on Kenichi Shirahama, an average 15-year-old high school student who has been picked on his whole life. However, after a month into his freshman year, he meets and befriends the mysterious transfer student, Miu Furinji. Driven by his desire to become stronger and to protect those around him, he follows her to Ryozanpaku, a dojo for those who are truly strong and have mastered their arts gather. After learning basics from Miu, Kenichi is able to beat a high ranking member of the school's karate club, and becomes a target for all the delinquents in the school. Subsequently, Kenichi's daily routine is divided between hellish training under the six masters of Ryozanpaku, and his fights against the members of Ragnarok, a gang that views him as either a possible ally or an impending threat to their plans. After defeating Ragnarok, he faces a new enemy called YOMI, a group of disciples who are each personally trained by a master of an even bigger organization rivaling Ryozanpaku, Yami. Along with former members of Ragnarok who join the Shinpaku Alliance, a group created by Kenichi's schoolmate Haruo Niijima, Kenichi now fights Yami to prove his ideals and protect those in need.
|
|
| Shirahama Kenichi is a first year high school student, who likes botany and reading How to... books. He was initially viewed as a weakling by the rest of his school, and was ranked as the weakest student. In order to become strong enough to protect others, he becomes a disciple of the Ryozanpaku Dojo, and eventually lives there, so he can fully embrace his masters' teachings. Despite his whiny nature, he grows to be a strong fighter when motivated, usually when using his skill to protect others, adversary and ally alike. Many masters have noted that he possesses an untapped potential, that if unlocked, Kenichi would become the strongest in the world.
|
|
| Furinji Miu is a first year high school student, who also happens to be in the same class as Kenichi. Miu has a gentle nature despite being an incredibly strong and talented fighter trained by her grandfather, the elder of the Ryozanpaku Dojo, since childhood. Miu is quite eager to make friends, and treasures her friendship with Kenichi, but seems oblivious to his true feelings for her, though she does get jealous whenever another girl shows affection for him.
|
|
| Furinji Hayato is Miu's grandfather and the undefeated elder of the Ryozanpaku Dojo. He is known as the 'Invincible Super Man. His kicks have speeds that are still a blur even when viewing a replay of it at 1/1000 of the normal speed. Even using just 0.0002% of his power, he can easily overwhelm both Kenichi and Miu at the same time and rip a tree in half. He was able to defeat a master level opponent in D of D tournament with just one finger. Prior to building the dojo, he and his granddaughter had travelled around the world in his quest for peace. He has 108 special techniques so far and can copy any move an opponent uses against him. He knows Seikuken and is the creator of "Ryusui (flowing water) Seikuken" which Kenichi learned from him. However, his most used technique seems to be the "Human Shuriken".
|
|
| Koetsuji Akisame: Akisame is a 38-year-old philosophical Jujutsu master who was the first master willing to train Kenichi (though ironically he seems to be the only master that does not believe in him, though this may be an act) and an old friend of Miu's father, Saiga. Despite his seemingly small physique, he is actually known for having his muscles built to perfection. He also has very good insight on people, often knowing if they are troubled or hiding something; he sometimes even knows what a person is thinking, which scares Kenichi. He has several hobbies and many unique abilities, including being a famous and legendary artisan, who has mastered calligraphy, painting, pottery, and sculpting. He often invents contraptions that serve as both training devices for Kenichi and power sources for the dojo including a treadmill generator. Because of this, in the manga Kenichi often runs home to him in times of problems screaming "DORAEMON!" (complete with dorayaki). He also owns an orthopaedic clinic, and can reset and fix bones with ease. According to Kenichi in episode 8, he is capable of unspeakable brutality. In episode 50, it is shown that Akisame does indeed show anger towards Ogata's treatment of his disciple. When Kenichi imitated him in the battle against Ryuuto, Kenichi openly informed Ryuuto that the basics of martial arts is mimicry, this seemed to impress Akisame. Akisame is also capable of speaking fluently in Russian and can even write Russian symbols well even when driving a motorcycle at high speeds.
|
|
| Sakaki Shio is a 29-year-old extremely powerful, self-proclaimed 100-dan karate master. He claimed not to take disciples at first, but gradually grew to like Kenichi and is always eager to train him. He has a soft side which he tries to hide behind his tough guy attitude, and is usually the one worrying about Kenichi the most despite acting like he does not care. He likes to gamble and can usually be seen drinking alcohol. The majority of the underground fighters are scared of Ryozanpaku and Sakaki in particular. There is little known about his past or why or how he became a martial artist especially of his status. One notable trait of Sakaki is that his laugh is threatening, which Kenichi uses when he imitated him in the fight against Ryuuto, Sakaki was unaware that his laugh sounded like that and is actually angered by the fact especially when Apachai makes fun of him.
|
|
| Ma Kensei is a lecherous master of Chinese Kenpo. He is always trying to take revealing pictures of beautiful women (including Shigure and Miu), which often earns him the wrath of the pair, though it does not stop him. Kenichi and Ma develop a very close relationship, though Ma mistreats Kenichi comically like everyone else does. He also knows Kenichi better than the others due to the fact that he is usually the one who ends up convincing him to cooperate with their plans. Though he is a perverted and sly old man, Kenichi still admits that he never doubted his training methods or his beliefs as a master, this shows how much his bond with Kenichi and him are as master and disciple. He is revealed to have a wife and three kids, including a 16-year-old daughter named Renka Ma, who followed him from China. Kensei was actually the leader of an elite martial arts alliance in China, made up of thousands of students. However, he viewed the responsibilities as a nuisance, so he left it all to his wife, and moved to Japan where he operates an acupuncture clinic. He also has an older brother, Sougetsu Ma.
|
|
| Apachai Hopachai is the 28-year-old Muay Thai "God of Death". Despite his lethal skills, he has a childlike nature, which is why he is good with kids and animals. However, when it comes to fighting, Apachai lacks the ability to hold back, and often nearly kills Kenichi. The reason for this is because Apachai has been fighting life or death battles in the ring since he was very young; therefore striking with deadly force has become a reflex for him. Since he was saddened by the fact that Kenichi was scared to train with him, he eventually learns how to hold back his strength, though he still sometimes knocks out Kenichi when he enters his fighting mode. When Apachai talks he frequently says "Apa", sometimes even yelling out "Apapapapa..." whilst fighting or training. He also answers the phone with a "We have your child hostage." rather than a normal "Hello", presumably because of his past.
|
|
| Kosaka Shigure is a mysterious person and a slow talker. She is also a master of all types of. She was initially viewed as a loner, often avoiding interaction with the other residents of the dojo, besides Apachai. However, later in the series, she begins to open up to Kenichi and the others. She teaches Kenichi how to use weapons and also got him past his fear of people using weapons against him. It was implied by Kensei that Shigure worries about Kenichi when he is not around because she believes that he got into something dangerous, meaning she has possibly grown a liking for Kenichi. Out of all the masters, Shigure trains Kenichi the least. Her actions subtly suggest that she yearns to have him as a disciple, and is disappointed with Kenichi's reluctance to use weaponry (along with his perpetual fear of her). Thus far, she has taught Kenichi mostly practical abilities, such as swimming and rope tying. A mouse (who has unique abilities), later named Tochumaru, is frequently in her company.
|
|
